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MEDIA DECODER; New President For Film Academy

By MICHAEL CIEPLY

Published: August 2, 2012

1:37 p.m. | Updated LOS ANGELES - Howard W. Koch Jr., known widely as ''Hawk,'' was named president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at a Tuesday night meeting of its board of governors. He succeeds Tom Sherak, who stepped down on reaching a term limit after three years as president of the Academy, which presents the Oscars and oversees programs that promote film education and awareness.

Mr. Koch, a film producer of long experience, had been widely viewed as a likely successor to Mr. Sherak. He had served recently as the group's first vice president, and is entering his ninth year on the board of governors. Because the president must be a governor and governors only serve for nine years, Mr. Koch will be limited to one year as president.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Koch said his first priorities would be to line up a producer and a host for the next Oscar show, and to focus on fundraising for the Academy's planned movie museum. ''I feel like this is a movie I've been wanting to make for my whole life, and it's just been green-lit,'' Mr. Koch said of his election to the Academy's top office.

People briefed on his plans have described him as favoring a push to compress some Oscar-related activities into a brief period before the Academy Awards, perhaps creating a festival-type atmosphere that would bring new energy to the ceremony.

Mr. Koch's father, Howard W. Koch Sr., who is deceased, also served as the Academy's president.

The Academy's governors on Tuesday also named Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Kathleen Kennedy and Phil Robinson to vice president positions, while Rob Friedman was elected treasurer and Robert Rehme was elected secretary. The Academy includes about 6,000 professional workers from various branches of the film industry.

On Wednesday, the Producers Guild of America said Mr. Koch would take a leave of absence from his position as a president of that group, leaving Mark Gordon as its sole president while Mr. Koch holds the presidency of the Academy.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.